Madagascar Presentation

Had an awesome time at last week's visit to the Ingersoll District Nature Club, so I thought I'd post a few photos from the presentation.  Here are some of my favourites:

Have you ever seen such an impressive butt-snorkel?

Giant Water Bug (Family: Belostomatidae)

We found this impressive water bug in a puddle, and fished him out for a closer look.  We have these creatures here in Canada (sometimes known as toe-biters or electric light bugs), but this one was exceptional in two ways: his raptorial arms are especially large compared to his body size, and he has a butt-snorkel longer than his entire body.  Here it is in use:

Giant Water Bug (Family: Belostomatidae)

We had the good fortune to find quite a few chameleons, but this one is probably my favourite.  Mostly because of the name.

Big-nosed Chameleon (Calumma nasutum)

One of the coolest birds in Mad is probably the Madagascar Pygmy-Kingfisher.  He is only about the size of the sparrow, lives in the dense forest and as our guide told us in broken English "fishes for lizards."

Madagascar Pygmy-Kingfisher (Ceyx madagascariensis)

And lastly, one of the most incredible spiders in the world.

Net-casting Spider (Family: Deinopidae)

To understand just how amazing this creature is, watch this video: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/18990161.  Have you every seen anything so freakin cool???

That's all for now!
Kyle